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Being a fighting game fan... I wanted to start a discussion of some of the best fighters withing the last 2 or 3 years.
I've played the following and think that they ALL rock! I honestly couln't pick a favorite of these five. I like them all for different reasons.

Virtua Fighter 5-IMO the smoothest play mechanics and animations of any fighter. And under-appreciated graphics! I wish more people liked VF. I prefer it to tekken though tekken is an incredible series in its own right.
SFIV, soon to be eclipsed by SSFIV-2n'd smoothest playing fighter. Classic gameplay and characters, everybody likes SF
KOFXII- Great hand drawn graphics, smooth controls!
MK vs. DC Universe-Batman , Joker, and Superman!, great graphics and gameplay...very under rated in my opinion. Great for casual play!
Tekken 5 DR-Very deep fighing system. Fun and fast...best music and sound!

And no i didn't forget Soul Calibur...It's not my cup of tea, I'm a Tekken man.

And if i get enough birthday money this month, i'm going to order
BlazBlue and
Tekken 6!!

I know it's been said before, but what a great time to be a fighting game fan!!! So many great titles!

It's true, 2009 has been the best year for fighting game fans since 1998!

Oddly enough though, my favorite new fighter I've played this year was released last year and that's Battle Fantasia. The European release was early 2009 so even though it came out in '08 here I'll still count it.

KoFXII and BlazBlue are great too. I plan on renting Tekken 6 soon to see if it'll be worth $60 to me or not. I haven't been big into Tekken since 3 so I'm not sold on it just yet. Campaign Scenario mode looks sweet though.

I can't help but feel there were still a few things missing from this year in fighting games though. Itadaki leaving Tecmo meant no DOA5 announcement. They might go through with it without him, but I'd be more looking forward to whatever he designs on his own. It was the Darkstalkers series' 15th anniversary and Capcom failed to do anything about it. Boo! And KoF: MIRA2 still doesn't exist. I think MIRA2 would have been a much more effective way for SNK to capitalize on SFIV's success than KoFXII was.

The question is, will next year be anywhere near as big as this year has been? SSFIV, SS:EoD, BlazBlue Continuum Shift, and Toshinden Wii, are the only new games coming in 2010 that I can think of off the top of my head. KoF '02UM is finally coming to the US in 2010 too. Hopefully we'll hear announcements of MVC3 and CVS3 by E3 next year.

Yeah, I agree that 2010 might not be as exiting...the new Samurai Showdown is the only real game on my wish list that I can think of...What is BlazeBlue continuim shift? I havne't even played the first one yet. Looking forward to it though since I've heard nothing but stellar responses to it.

Continuum Shift is the first of what will no doubt be many updates to the series, much in the vein of Guilty Gear X's many updates. Calamity Trigger (aka, the first BB game that's already out in Japan and the US) isn't even coming to Europe. CS is coming instead. No word yet on how gamers around the rest of the world will be getting their hands on CS though. I personally hope it's just DLC because I don't see myself paying another $60 for mostly the same game. I like BB and all, but not enough to buy it again when I know damn well there will be another update following soon thereafter.

reelmojo wrote:
I can't help but feel there were still a few things missing from this year in fighting games though. Itadaki leaving Tecmo meant no DOA5 announcement.

PERSONALLY...
I think Itagaki leaving Tecmo is a good thing... especially if all his sequels were going to be as uninspired and cheap as Ngaiden2 & DOA4. i look forward to a fresh DOA5 from the remainder of Team Ninja... hopefully without the untextured, shiny & rubbery visuals from games gone by (DOA3 onwards...). I bought Ngaiden2Sigma recently, and after 2-3 hours, sent it right back. Stale as piss IMO. I couldn't give a fuck what IGN says (a common comeback!)

reelmojo wrote:
The question is, will next year be anywhere near as big as this year has been? SSFIV, SS:EoD, BlazBlue Continuum Shift, and Toshinden Wii, are the only new games coming in 2010 that I can think of off the top of my head. KoF '02UM is finally coming to the US in 2010 too. Hopefully we'll hear announcements of MVC3 and CVS3 by E3 next year.

FOR ME...
the BIGGEST deal about 2010 is going to be Tatsunoko VS Capcom: UAS on the Wii. My friend recently 'hacked' his Wii and downloaded a copy of the JP TvC for us to have a go on, and I have to confess, I was rather taken with it... more so than SF4 or BBlue. It played much much better than I had anticipated. I'm also looking forward to the online aspect added for this new iteration... Plus Zero's gonna be in it, oh yes!

Shame I have to invest in a Wii just for that game though... I guess the plus is, I can play my 'Cube games on it... and it comes in White!

ALSO...
I have played Tekken6 quite extensively in the Arcade this summer and literally cannot wait for T6BR for PS3... I think it will be 'sick'. I think it comes out this week! My returned copy of NGaiden2 has financially compensated for it (as they're from the same store).

I'LL KEEP MY EAR TO THE GROUND...
regarding BBCShift & SSF4. If they manage to nullify all that ridiculously easy juggle BS from SF4... then you can maybe count me back in, ESPECIALLY if Ibuki & Guy are in it! Doubt I'll touch BBlue ever again though. It's just not my kinda game. Best sell it on quick before the sequel come out eh?

GLAD TO HEAR...
the US will be getting 02UM... it's arguably the best KOF ever made IMO. Heh, it probably is the best KOF ever actually. I'd say it's between 02UM, 98UM & XI. My personal faves will always be 95 & 03, but those 3 I just mentioned are probably the best KOFs money can buy. Sadly none available on the NeoGeo.

Best New Fighting Game - BlazBlue, easily. This game fucking rocks. It looks amazing, it sounds amazing, it controls great, the gameplay is awesome, and it can be a pretty balanced game in it's own right.

Best Sequel - Street Fighter IV. Captures the essence of classic Street Fighter gameplay, while keeping some of the newer elements introduced in Street Fighter 3, and even adding a few new features into the mix. Controls in this game are flawless.

I would list Virtua Fighter 5... but it's not really "new", it's a couple years old already, although I do think it looks way better than Tekken 6, and I'll bet it'll play better than Tekken 6, soon as I play Tekken 6... which I don't know when that'll be, I might give it a rent. But I heard the online play in Tekken 6 is gonna suck, so I'm skeptical.

The King Of Fighters XII? Well, I'll say it does look and animate nicely, but everything else about the game is not worth mentioning at all. That game is the biggest new fighting flop of this year.

for me this year has all been about sf4 ive been playing this game soooo much. i play it nearly every day and am not bored yet.

virtua fighter 4: loooove best 3d fighter around and i think it will beat tekken 6 for me im a vf head all the way, i used to be a tekken boy born and bread but i got converted along the way.

soul calbar 4: fu**ing hate it

blaz blue: not that inetersted but will end up getting when its cheap

kof xii: will get it when its free

tekken 6: amlooking forward and will get it for xmas

super sf4: i am super excited and cant wait roll on 2010

I'm in agreement with alot of that, except for I am very exited to try Blaz Blue. I haven't heard one person play it and not like it. Never played VF4. I actually never got into VF too much till I picked up 5 a couple years ago used...since then It's held a very high place for me among fighting games! I was blown away by how a game with only 3 buttons can have the deepest fighting system I had ever seen. I hate that the ps3 version isn't online though. I think I play a pretty mean Akira (can beat arcade on hardest difficulty w/ no continues) but you never really know till u test it on others.

cool well its not that i think BB looks bad, its just that its not keeping me dreaming at night. to be fair VF4 is probs the best VF game even if it isnt as approachable as VF5. yep i love the simplified 3 button fighter ideal it realy works well. if you ever got it on the 360 i would like to challenge u online. i think im more of a brad burns kind of guy but i like using most of the characters.

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